Property supply in UK falls again in November

The lack of housing supply in the UK is set to continue, according to the latest property supply index from online estate agents HouseSimple.

This Index reveals that new property listings slipped by 11.9% in November, which was the largest drop this year.

In London, supply fell by 18.3%, with new properties coming onto the market rising in only two of the capital’s boroughs.

High price

Property experts are warning that the lack of property supply is serving to keep house prices high. The Index reveals that 67.4% of towns and cities in the UK experienced a fall in demand, suggesting that this property is not going away.

The largest fall in property listings was evident in Hereford, where they were down by 42.1%. There was a decline of 35.8% in Chichester, 35.7% in Warwick, 34.5% in Aberdeen and 33.3% in Halifax.

On the other end of the scale, the location with the largest rise in supply was Swansea, where listings soared by 89%. This was followed by West Brom (+70.6%), Bootle (+55.6%), Southport (+49.6%), Worcester (+31.4%) and Truro (+27.2%).

Capital pains

In London, the borough with the largest fall in new listings was Islington, where they fell by 35.4%. Islington was followed by Brent (-31.7%), Bromley (-31.2%), Kensington and Chelsea (-27.9%) and Merton (26.7%).

Property supply in UK falls again in November

Alex Gosling, chief executive officer of House Simple, said that November is traditionally a buoyant month, with many looking for a sale before the festive period.

Gosling observed: ‘It will come as something of a surprise then to see supply levels fall again last month and a near 12% fall will be a concern when supply levels are extremely low in many areas. This drop in supply could simply be a correction after new listings jumped in September. It could also be in part to the fallout from the EU vote and shock Trump election result, although the property market had proved extremely resilient to these two seismic events in the space of a few months.’[1]

‘The lack of supply has been an issue throughout this year. There are plenty of buyers but sellers have been scarce on the ground. Now that Christmas is less than three weeks away, new listings are unlikely to pick up significantly, although for those sellers who need to sell, or fancy testing the market, they could have their pick of committed buyers,’ he continued.[1]

Concluding, Gosling said: ‘Looking ahead to 2017, the property market is in surprisingly good health considering the headwinds it’s faced in the second half of the year. And there’s a great deal of optimism that January will start with a bang as sellers come back with renewed vigour in the New Year.’[1]